Propelling means for air or water craft



April w. D. SCHAEFER 1,708,303

PROPELLING MEANS FOR AIR OR WATER CRAFT Filed June 23, 1927 5 Sheets-Sheet l Inventor B 2mm April 1929- I w. D. SCHAEFER 1,708,803

PROPELLING MEANS FOR AIR OR WATER CRAFT Filed June 23, 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 b EM April 9, 1929. w. D. SCHAEFER I PROPELIJING MEANS FOR AIR OR WATER CRAFT Filed J1me 23, 1927 5 Sheets5heet Patented Apr. 9, 1929.

WILLIAM D. SC'HAEFER, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

PROPELLIINIG MEANS FOR AIR OR WATER CRAFT.

Application filed June be present invention relates to a mechanical attachment for boats, submarines, and aircraft and the prime object of the invention is to provide a device suitable for use in the bow or front portion of craft by means of which the craft may be propelled, stabilized and guided.

it. her very important object of the mventiou lies in. the provision of a mechanical propelling attachment oil this nature which may be mounted in the front of the craft to minimize side and head resistance and there by obtain a maximum amount of speed by expending a comparatively small amount of power.

Another very important ob' ect of the 1nvolition resides in the provision of a device of this nature which is exceedii y simple in its construction, easy to control and manipulate, inexpensive to mainifacture, strong and du rable, thoroughly ellicient and reliable in operation and use, and otherv so well adapted to the purpose for which it is t esigned.

ll ith the above and nun'ierous other objects in view as will appear the description proceeds, the invention resides in certain novel features of construction, and in the combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the drawin. Figure l is a iragmentary top plan view showing the bow ot a boat with my attachment mounted therein,

lTic llQ 2 is a side elevation thereof, 3 is a horizontal longitudinal sectio'o through the attachment, I

Figure l is a fragmentary side elevation showin the bow of a submarine with another embodiinent oi the attachment mounted therein .lliarure 5 an end elevation there-oil lliiiure 6 is a fragmentary side elevation :howing the bow oi? an, ai rip with an emodiineiit ol the invention 11 muted therein, 5 ur "2' a front elevation thereof.

eter to the drawing in detail an d lllS't lie embodiment of the invention shown 1 it will be seen that the numeral in ldi gure ecno s boat for n-opulsion on the surface o" ittachment is mounted 1927. Serial No. 200,948.

the head 8 and have extending rearwardly and sidewardly therefrom tubes 9, two in number, which diverge rearwardly from each other and terminate in registry with openings 10 in the sides of the bow of the boat. These tubes 9 also incline downwardly and rearwardly as will be apparent from an inspection of Figure 2. In the rear of the head 8 there is disposed a cone-shaped member 11 the apex of which is disposed in the head 8 and opposite the front ends of the outlet tubes 9. A shaft 12 journaled through the apex of the cone-shaped member 11 and a stuiiing box 13 is mounted on. said apex to surround said shaft. A propeller i l is mounted on the front end of thesha'lt 12 in the propeller chamber formed by the head 8 for the purpose of sucking water through the single tube 6 and forcing said water outwardlv through the rearwardly, sidewardly and downwardly extending outlet tubes 9. The coneshaped member 11 is provided at its base with an annular flange 15 which is secured to the rear end of the head 8 by.means of bolts 16 or in any other suitable manner, In each tube 9 there is swingably mounted gate valves 17 which are controlled through cranks l8 and a connecting rod 19 or in any other suitable manner.

ll hen the propeller 1a is in operation it will such water reanu'ardly through the tube 6 and divert the water rearwardly and through the sides out through the tubes 9 thus propelling the boat 5 forwardly and at the same time minimizing the side resistance of the bow and the head on resistance thereof. To steer the boat it onli, necessary to properly manipulate the gate valve 17. Thus if the right hand valve is open and the left hand valve closed the boat would turn to the left and vice versa. 'lhese valves may also be manipulated to overcome side currents and the like as will be quite apparent. The cone-shaped device 11 is important in diverting the water to the sides and in minimizing friction. It is my purpose to provide this attachment wholly within the bow of the boat so that comparatively short tubes may be used.

Attention is now directed to the embodiment oil the invention shown in Figures l and 5. The numeral 20 denotes the bow of a submarine. A single tube 21 projects rearwardly from the front edge of the submarine which is formed with a screened opening 22. This tube 21 terminates in a head 23 having four tubesf i l projecting rearwardly and sidewar -ly therefrom;andfth'erefore divei'ging froln one another and-terminating 1n registrywith openings and having adjustably mounted therein gate valvesgfis" propellen 27:is. mounted in the head 23 and operates in any suitable manner. This embodiment ofthe device has all of the advantagesand utility described in connection with the first embodi ment of tlie invention shown in Figures 6 and 7. 1' lhe' numeral 30 denotes the bo wot'lighter than air iiffit member of an airship. A tube 31'projects'rearwardly from the nose of the 20, 1 rearwardlyand sidew rdly from the rear end bow. and has a plurality of tubes 32 extending thereof and therefore liverging from oneanother and terminating 1n reg1stry'w1th openings 33. Each of the tubes 32 is provided w th an adjustable valve34 controllable inhiiffshitable'inanner. j In the rear endofthe tube- 31 I c. y there is prov dedan air propeller 35 oper ao1e ,inanysuitable manner. It will be seen that this embodiment has all ofthe advantages of the twofirst described embodiments allowin the aircraft to be propelled,stabilized, and

steered horizontally and vertically.

Frorn the above detailedv description it twill be'seenthat-I have devised a very simple yet thoroughly eiiicient andreliable structure vfor pr opelling :air and water craft which per- I I mits control of the crfa ftfin the steering thereof; The discharge tubes also aid in maintaining a straight course as in the case ofside currentsby closing the tube 015 tubes tot-he side from which the adverse current comes.

Though only two tubes for discharging Water ft-iened at? and-22 arenecessary toprevent fioating objects, seaweed,and the like, from entering the propeller tubes and interfering with its action. Inthe first twoembodiments it will be seen thatfl the cone may be very easily removed for the purpose of cleaning out arenecessary for surface boats, four orinore tubes are req'uirec'l for submarines to attain maximum efficiency andv in air ships, For water craft the grating orscreens as menthetubes whennecessary, shouldany seaweed an I or other object clog the; tubes in any way. a In the aircraft the tub'esfare unobstructed because they will be made comparatively large and therefore'very accessible and are not sub- 1 'ected to the same dan ers as in water craft.

It is thought that the construction, opera tion, utility, and advantages of this inventien will now be quite apparent -to those skilled in this art without a more detaileddescription th ereof. The present embodiments in said apex, a shaft journaled in of the invention have been disclosed in detail merely by way of examplessince iIi actual practice they will attain the features'of advantage enumerated as desirable in the statement of the invention and the above description. It will be apparent that changes in the details of construction, and in the combination andarrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed or sacrificing any of. its advantages.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is: i

1, In combination with thebow of a craft, a tube extending, rearwardly from an opening in the nose thereof and terminating in tubes diverging from each other and extending rearwardly and sidewardly to terminate in registry with openings in the side of said how, a, propeller unit inthe rear end of the first, tube, detachable cone in the rear. end otsaid tube having a stufiing box bearing, a

shaitin the stufling box bearing on which said propeller is mounted.

2. In combination, with thebow of av craft, a tube extending rearwardly from an opening in the nosevof the bow and terminating rearwardly in a head, a detachable .conc inthe rear of the head having its aiex disposed forwardly in the head, astuiling ox mounted the stufiing box, a propeller on the shaft within the head, a plurality of tubes extending sidewardly and rearwardly from the first, tube and diverging from each other and terminating in registry with openings in the side of the bow.

8. Incombination with the bow of a craft, a tube extending rearwardly from an opening in the nose of the bow and terminating rearWardly in a head, a detachable cone in the rear of thehead having its apex disposed forwardly in the head. acstufiing box mounted in said apex, a shaft journalcd in the stuiiing box,.a propeller on the shaft within the head, a plurality of tubes extending sidewardl y an d rearwardly from the first tube and dive from each other and terminating in registry with openings in the side of the how, a valve in cachof the last mentioned tubes.

4:. In a propelling means for air or water eraft, an elongated tube merging at one end into an enlarged casing, a cone detachably mounted in the end of the casing remote from the tube to point toward said tube, and branches extending from the sides of the easing in parallelism with the sides of the cone, a shaft journaled through the apex of the cone, apropeller on the inner end of the shaft within the casing, and a stufling box disposed aboutthe shaftat the apexof the cone.

Intestimony whereof I afiix my signature.

WILLIAM A D.. SCHAEFERH 

